said by Msradell:said by iLearn:said by robbin:Yes and their interpretation was that a mechanical stop was present and operational as they could stopper the tub.
Ah! OK.
BTW - why are you worried about such a small item? I mean a deficient drain stop? come on now.
Well yes, it could be something that would be quite expensive to repair depending on what the problem was. Looking at what you put in your earlier post it should of been noted that it didn't perform mechanically but an alternative method of stopping was provided! Also finding small easily identified problems like this that weren't noted really makes you wonder about other harder to identify items.
I highly doubt that fixing a drain stopper is a big expense but it is my opinion.
Anyways, the point is that the client (in this particular situation) needs to prove that the home inspector 'missed' that item. The inspector is saying that a mechanical stop was present so its the client's word's against the inspector's. So we are not even sure if the inspector did in fact 'miss' that item.
Overall, just to be fair, a home inspector is a generalist not a specialist. A typical home inspection takes about 3 hours, there is 9-10 systems to inspection which gives the inspector hardly 20 minutes per inspection. The point is (and this is a question for the buyer) - if bad/broken was identified in the report, was that item a decision making factor in the purchase of a house - seriously?
There will always be some minor issues that will not make it to the report however, I agree the inspector should not miss a big item which is why they have E&O insurance. The inspection agreement DOES NOT matter if a big issue was missed by the home inspectors.
I have bought 3 houses in the last 5 years and if a buyer comes to me and ask me to fix a drain stopper else he would not buy my house, I would tell him/her to take a hike.